Lost in the pocket: the current status of periodontal diagnosis

The predictors of periodontal disease progression following treatment need more research

“…As William Lavine has pointed out, we may still be, ''lost in the pocket''. 1 If we are inclined to accept the authors' conclusion here, that residual deep pockets are predictive of attachment-loss in treated cases, then we would be even more compelled to accept the conclusion that shallow sulci are predictive of attachment-loss in untreated cases. The latter conclusion is logically inescapable, albeit clinically useless, given that people are not born with periodontal disease and that periodontal disease initially develops in subjects with a healthy periodontium (ie, no pockets).…”